MOSCOW'S WESTERN RIVALS

Cathrin Kahlweit in conversation with Oliver Jens Schmitt

MOSCOW'S WESTERN RIVALS

Oliver Jens Schmitt, an expert on the history of south-east Europe, teaches at the University of Vienna. This autumn, he published an extremely fact-rich and detailed monograph on „Moscow's Western Rivals - A European History from the North Cape to the Black Sea“, which covers seven centuries of West-East relations. In it, Schmitt shows that history does repeat itself and that Moscow's rulers have not only always waged war on the states and peoples on its periphery, but have also laid claim to a Russian empire for centuries. In his new book, Schmitt also shows why Moscow's western, once influential rivals were crushed and divided up by old and new great powers - and why the Russian neighbours' claim to self-determination is so regularly ignored to this day. Oliver Jens Schmitt presents his new book, which is already a standard work, in an interview with Eastern Europe expert Cathrin Kahlweit.

Oliver Jens Schmitt, Swiss historian, expert on Eastern Europe and author
Cathrin Kahlweit, SZ correspondent for many years, is a publicist and presenter.

Oliver Jens Schmitt:
Moscow's western rivals. A European history from the North Cape to the Black Sea
Klett Cotta Verlag, September 2025. 32,90 €